March 3, 2000
by fangirlwriting
Summary: March 3 is always a special day in the Flynn-Fletcher household for being Ferb's birthday. But on March 3 in the year 2000 3-year old Phineas Flynn prepares for a pretty drastic new change, and is still struggling to adapt to a pretty drastic old change. (I am intending this to be a one-shot, but I can continue if people want me to.)
1. Chapter 1

Phineas Flynn was told it was his birthday. Not _his_. But the new person. And that made him feel really guilty, because he wanted to make a good first impression, especially if it was the person's birthday. But he was instead in his room drawing a picture of his best friend.

A second later she was coming quickly up the stairs.

"Phineas!" Candace called, poking her head into his room. "Come on, mom's calling you!"

"Candy!" Phineas called nervously.

His sister seemed to realize he was nervous because she shut the door and walked over to him. "What's wrong?" she asked knowingly. Phineas thought she was very smart and per-th-eptive for a 7 year old. He couldn't pronounce that word anymore, 'cause he was missing his two front teeth.

"Candy, what if they're mean like the guy who killed daddy?!" Phineas exclaimed with tears in his eyes.

Candace's eyes widened, and then saddened in the way they tended to when she knew something that he didn't and that she shouldn't tell him. "Phineas, the guy who killed dad wasn't _mean_ , he was just drun—" she stopped abruptly. "Uh… well. He was just… confused." she finished lamely.

Phineas stared at her, now confused himself. "They're gonna be _confused_?"

"What? No, no, I just mean—" she sighed again. "Look, just don't judge them before you get to know them, okay? I mean, what's the Golden Rule?"

"Uh…" Phineas struggled to remember. What had mom and Candace told him lately that was really important? "Always wash your hands after you go potty?"

"Um… no… it's 'always treat others the way you want to be treated', remember?"

" _Oh,_ yeah." Phineas said. He paused. "So you're saying that if I'm nice to them, they'll be nice to me too?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much how the world works." Candace said. _"For a three year old anyway."_ She muttered the last part to herself.

Phineas took a deep breath. "Okay, Candy." he looked back at the new bed. "Let's go meet my roommate."

He took his big sister's hand as she led him out of his bedroom, and towards the stairs, where a man with brown hair and glasses was waiting with his mom. He bent down to Phineas' level when he noticed him. "Hello there." he said. He sounded strange, and Phineas ducked slightly behind Candace. "You must be Phineas Flynn. My name is Lawrence Fletcher. It's nice to meet you, but I think there's someone else you'll like a little more than me." He stepped to the side to reveal someone clinging to his leg. He looked exactly like his father, except he had green hair. "This is Ferb." Lawrence said.

Huh. He looked just as nervous as Phineas himself.

Phineas took a deep breath, trying to decide in a brief second what new, incredibly sensitive information about his life to share with these terrifying strangers.

"Hi! My name's Phineas Carnell Flynn and I'm three years old and I made a cuckoo clock that Bucky can fit inside and be the cuckoo and Bucky is my dog and I can do really cool stuff but I need to practice more 'cause I ain't patient enough to do everythin' yet and I mostly draw 'cause of that fact that I jus' mentioned and what's your name?" He said all of this in one breath.

Ferb had now disappeared almost entirely behind his father's leg again. _"Quieter, please."_ he whimpered.

He sounded strange too. Phineas turned to his mother. "Mama, why do they sound so weird?"

"Phineas!" Linda scolded.

But 'Lawrence Fletcher' chuckled. "It's alright. It's called an accent. Sometimes people who come from different areas of the world sound differently when they talk."

"Huh." Phineas said, absorbing this new information. In a second, he was grinning. He put his hands on his knees and leaned around Lawrence's leg to see Ferb again. "Hey Ferb, I like your accent. It sounds _cool!_ You wanna go see your bed?"

Ferb, who was still holding on to his father's leg in terror, was baffled by this 'Phineas Carnell Flynn's' sudden change of attitude. Hadn't he been just as nervous as Ferb not ten seconds ago? What exactly was happening here?

The two parents and Candace both decided to head to the other room and give the two a little time to get to know each other by themselves.

And Phineas, without waiting for much of an answer to his question, grabbed Ferb's hand and Ferb felt himself suddenly being dragged up the stairs very quickly by Phineas Carnell Flynn and his sticky hands. When he got to what was now, he supposed, his and Phineas' shared room, he could see the reason. Phineas' miniature desk across from his bed was covered in lollipops, both wrapped and unwrapped. Ferb made a mental note to wash his hands as quickly as possible.

"So this is your bed," Phineas said, pointing to a purple bed with an empty side of the room. Huh. He could work with that. Get some wood and add a bookshelf above it, a fake nuclear waste container nightstand, another bookshelf on the other side of the bed and a telephone booth to remind him of England…

"And this is my bed!" Phineas yelled, interrupting Ferb's thoughts. He turned to see the 3 year old (according to his father) jumping up and down on top of an inflatable bed that said 'S.S. Phineas.' Overhead was a fish tank with no fish. Ferb flinched and backed away from said bed, certain the bed was going to pop at any minute. But when nothing happened and Phineas continued to happily bounce to some onomatopoeic sounds, Ferb turned his attention to Phineas' half of the room, which looked very full. He had probably had more space before Ferb moved in. It had a various knick-knacks including a tennis racket, a Dippy Bird, and some sort of skull, but most impressive was what appeared to be a full-sized, _accurate_ totem pole.

Phineas noticed Ferb's attention. "Oh." he said sadly. Ferb jumped at the once again seemingly instantaneous switch between emotions. But then again, his father said that was normal for 3 year olds. Maybe _he_ was the weird one. There were times he felt like the weird one.

"My daddy made me that." Phineas continued. "He… he's dead." Phineas teared up and sat down on the bed. He no longer looked like he wanted to jump up and down in joy. "Sometimes I have nightmares about him dying. It's never in the same way though."

Ferb, without much of a conscious decision on his part, walked over and sat down on the bed next to Phineas. "My mum's dead." Ferb said bluntly.

Phineas looked over. "Yeah?" he asked. "Well, I have a— a mum. Maybe we could share?"

At this, Ferb gave a small smile and a nod. He was surprised at how quickly he had agreed to the strange idea. It was a little unorthodox, especially considering the two of them had just met. He just knew he didn't like Phineas sounding upset, and the offer Phineas had just made seemed like the easiest way to stop that. And he had no problem 'sharing' their parents.

Sharing a room, on the other hand…

"FERB!" Phineas yelled, sitting bolt upright in bed at 3 AM. "I KNOW WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO TODAY!"

Ferb suppressed a groan.


	2. Chapter 2

_March 24, 2000_

 **A/N: This chapter (and probably many more) will contain references to** _ **Archie**_ **, which is a story I want Beta Read before I publish it. But it will be published at some point. The mentions aren't direct, but you'll notice some habits pop up that are important.**

In the weeks Ferb Fletcher had lived with the Flynn family, he had learned several things.

Firstly, Phineas was about the loudest, happiest three year old he had ever met— although to be honest, he hadn't met very many three year olds. Just Archie, and he was two years older. Ferb had not seen Phineas stop smiling since the tears on his first day— or, at least, not during the daytime when he was awake.

Second, Candace was somehow louder than her brother. She had opinions, and she was not afraid to share them with anyone. Candace often boasted about how good she was at Skiddley Whiffers, or whatever movies she had seen lately that Phineas and Ferb were too young for. Ferb always had to bite back a remark about how he could understand some of the material in grown-up movies, which were older than the ones Candace watched. But speaking out of turn was bad, and being rude was bad too. So Ferb remained silent.

Third, his father and Phineas' mother definitely had a history. He was not entirely sure when it was or what had happened, but the way the two acted around each other was proof enough. Ferb had a sneaking suspicion that they liked each other.

Fourth, Phineas' dog Bucky was just about the cutest creature ever. There was an adorableness to the puppy that not even Ferb could ignore.

And lastly, the 'sometimes' Phineas had applied to his nightmares about his father did not correctly describe them. There was rarely a night when Ferb did not wake up to hear Phineas whimpering in the bed across the room.

Such as tonight. Ferb woke up around 3 AM in the morning, and glanced over to see Phineas clutching his pillow and shifting around. Without much question, Ferb got up and walked over to the other bed. He nudged Phineas awake.

Phineas jerked and involuntarily threw the pillow into the air. Ferb caught it and handed it back.

It seemed to take Phineas a minute to realize where he was and what was going on. "Oh." he mumbled, squeezing the pillow closer to his chest. "Was I having a nightmare again?"

Ferb nodded.

"Thanks, Ferb."

Ferb nodded again and went to move back to his own bed when Phineas caught his arm. "Can you stay here?"

Ferb nodded one last time and climbed in the bed next to Phineas as he moved over.

It took Phineas less than five minutes to fall asleep again, and he immediately began hogging the covers.

Ferb sighed. The things he did for Phineas Flynn (and would continue to do, if he was being honest with himself).

"Hey, Ferb, Ferb, Ferb… Ferbmister! Can I call you Ferbmister?"

Ferb turned to see Phineas bouncing over to him. He was sitting on the couch with a book that he couldn't quite understand. He might have needed one for a slightly younger age.

He nodded in response to Phineas' 'Ferbmister' question.

"I've gots an idea!"

Ferb tipped his head to tell him to go ahead.

"Candy wants to go to the pool to play, so I was thinkin' maybe you could come with us!"

Phineas stated this idea like it was the cure to cancer, he looked so proud of himself.

Ferb nodded once again— it was becoming a common response to much of what Phineas said— and climbed up to go get his swimsuit from his suitcase.

Phineas seemed to purposely make an effort to include him in everything he did most of the time— a far cry different from the boy who was very nervous about meeting him on the first day they saw each other.

Ferb had quickly come to the conclusion that Phineas Flynn came to trust people far too easily, far too quickly. He was pretty sure that was a normal thing for children… it was what made them easy targets for kidnapping, and the reason behind the whole 'don't take candy from strangers' lesson parents gave their children. But while a large part of it was worrying, another part of Ferb admired that quality, and wished it was something he could apply to himself.

He didn't have a lot of friends.

After picking up Candace's friend Stacy, the group of four went to the pool.

Phineas immediately jumped into the shallow end and began swimming around like a fish. Ferb himself wasn't a particularly good swimmer… or so he'd been told. But when he climbed into the pool and started swimming, Phineas turned around in the pool and his eyes widened. "Wow, Ferbmister! You could like… swim in the deep end! You're really fast!"

"Neither of you are swimming in the deep end today." Linda said, climbing in beside her son as Ferb tried to work out what made Phineas think he was such a good swimmer. He tended to flop around a lot according to—

"But _mom_ , Candace is swimming in the deep end!"

"Candace is 8 years old and can handle herself in the deep end." Linda said, raising her eyebrows.

Phineas sighed. "Yeah, I know. Cummon, Ferbmister! Let's go play with our pool toys!"

Phineas grabbed Ferb's arm— him doing so often did not seem to change in the pool, either— and pulled him behind him towards the bag on the side of the pool.

"Whaddaya wanna do?" Phineas asked pulling out various options, such as pool noodles or toys that sink and you dive after, or toys that squirted water.

"Hey, look!" Phineas laughed, pulling out a squirting dinosaur. "It's a dinosaur! Squirt fight!" He sprayed water on Ferb, who flinched and backed up.

Phineas, not having noticed his reaction, dug around until he pulled out a pool noodle.

"You wanna play Star Wars?" Phineas asked, offering a red pool noodle to Ferb.

Ferb took it without question, though he really didn't want to play Star Wars. After a couple seconds of swinging Phineas realized this. "Hey, do you wanna do something else? We don't have to play with pool noodles."

Ferb attempted to look a little more enthusiastic, but Phineas didn't seem to be buying it.

"Ferbmister. Do you wanna play with pool noodles?"

Ferb dropped the pool noodle into the water and shook his head, embarrassed.

"Okay, so we don't have to." Phineas said. "What do you want to do?"

Ferb shrugged and played with his hands.

Phineas had noticed in the past couple weeks this strange thing that Ferb seemed to do. He never wanted to say any ideas he might have or even say when he didn't want to something. What he had just done with the pool noodles was a rare experience.

 _So, based on what you know of Ferb,_ Phineas thought, _what would he want to do in the pool?_

"You wanna… sit in the quiet for a little while?" Phineas asked.

Ferb glanced up, and unlike the last idea, this time he looked genuinely curious— although that could be more because he was surprised to hear Phineas offer such a thing.

But when Phineas made no move to take it back, Ferb slowly nodded.

Phineas grinned, and moved over to the side of the pool, where his mother's pool mat was floating, unused. "Cummon, we can use this!"

Phineas hopped onto the pool mat horizontally, so as to leave room for Ferb as well. Ferb climbed up a couple seconds later, and Phineas stretched out into the warmth of the sun.

"I feel like a cat." he said with a giggle.

Ferb said nothing, but he did stretch out in an imitation of Phineas' position, which, since he did not speak much, Phineas figured was his version of a sarcastic joke. He giggled again.

True to his word, Phineas did not say anything. Both he and Ferb remained in the quiet sunshine until Linda called to them that it was time to leave. Phineas dragged the mat over to the side of the pool which Linda took and deflated, and then the two groups of two both moved towards the car.

Candace and Stacy both talking excitedly back and forth about some boy Stacy had a crush on named Billy Clark. They were also saying something about a hamster, though Ferb wasn't sure how those two things were related.

Meanwhile, Phineas was talking enough for the both of them. He kept talking about all of the things he was planning for April Fools Day. Ferb had never heard of someone making such a big deal out of the holiday, but Phineas kept saying he had this really big plan set up. Or at least… his dad had.

At that point Phineas grew quiet and looked down. Ferb put a hand on his shoulder, and Phineas glanced over with a smile. "Thanks, Ferbmister. I was just really looking forward to it this year."

Ferb bit his lip, considering bringing up how he could probably make it happen… but he didn't like to bring up his building skills. His father knew about them, and it wasn't like he was embarrassed by them… but it felt nice to have Phineas as a friend without having to bring up inventing just yet, as he didn't want to ruin anything. Besides, no one really liked that part of his personality anyway. Or…

So he'd been told.


	3. Chapter 3

_April 1, 2000_

But Ferb could not hide his skills forever. And on the day previously mentioned by Phineas, April 1st, it came out in the way he sort of figured it would. He and Phineas were watching a movie for younger kids, Sleeping Beauty (which was one Ferb did not particularly like, but that was a fact he would not dare bring up), and, being bored, Ferb was fiddling with some parts on his lap.

It took about half an hour for Phineas to notice. "Woah, woah, woah, wait!" he burst out.

At first Ferb thought he was talking about the movie. But when he glanced up what was happening was pretty routine for that point in the story. He gave Phineas a curious glance, and saw Phineas was looking down at the thing in his hands.

Ferb's eyes widened when he realized that's what Phineas was doing, and he immediately did his best to cover it up.

But Phineas moved Ferb's hands aside and pulled out the invention— it was a model of a spinning wheel, like from the movie, except this one was actually spinning and making miniature cloth, for a shirt that would be much too small to ever be practical.

Phineas, however, looked like this was the most amazing moment he had ever experienced in his whole life. "Did you build this?" he whispered.

Ferb, terrified, nodded.

Phineas leapt up from the couch, dropping the model, and ran into the other room. Ferb sighed and looked down at the spinning wheel before picking it up again. He contemplated burning it in the fireplace like in the movie. He should've known sooner or later Phineas would discover what he could do, and then he would be as freaked out as everybody else.

Or at least, that was how he was _told_ everybody else reacted.

But to Ferb's shock, Phineas ran back into the room a second later, holding a small red spiral notebook, looking like the kind you would buy at the store for little kids to scribble in. But when Phineas opened it, he saw a spectacular, incredibly detailed drawing. "Could you build this?!" Phineas asked, sounding incredibly hopeful, and anxious, which was not an emotion Phineas typically demonstrated.

Ferb nodded, confused. Didn't the building bother him?

But Phineas grinned brighter than the sun itself, and did his signature grabbing of Ferb's arm before yanking them both out to the garage.

Ferb was still standing in confusion at Phineas' reaction while Phineas ran across the room and grabbing something out of a box. "This was my daddy's." he said, handing Ferb a toolbox complete with tools and grease stains. "But you can use it, right?"

Ferb took the toolbox and looked inside. The tools would be a bit big for his hands, but he could make them work. He nodded again. He seemed to be doing that a lot today.

Phineas grinned again (he seemed to be doing a lot of _that_ today), and then dragged Ferb back inside and out the back door.

"Ferbmister," he said excitedly. "I know what we're gonna do today!"

…

"Candy, Candy!" Phineas exclaimed. "C'mere Candy! Come look at this thing we made!"

"Phineas, not right now!" Candace complained. "I'm busy!"

"Aw, Candy, please?" Phineas begged.

A groan was heard inside the house, and the 8-year-old walked towards the sliding glass door where Phineas was waiting. As soon as Candace stepped on the designated circle, Ferb let go of the rope, and it snapped around Candace's feet, yanking her until she was hanging by her feet upside down in front of the door.

Phineas burst out laughing. "April Fools, Candy!"

"Wha— Phineas, what is this?!"

"Ferbmister built it!" Phineas said happily. The fact that he sounded very happy still confused Ferb. "It's an April Fools Day prank!"

"GET ME DOWN!"

"Sure, Candy!" Phineas said, and before he could even ask Ferb was slowly lowering Candace to the ground.

"MOOOOM!" Candace yelled running inside the house.

"That was amazing, Ferbmister!" Phineas called, turning to face him.

Ferb looked away. "It was a rope and a pulley system." he muttered, still not having accepted the fact that Phineas seemed to like what he could do, and definitely not used to the praise.

"Yeah, and it was an _amazing_ rope and pulley system!"

"What the— what— where did it go?!" came Candace's voice.

Both Phineas and Ferb turned to see Candace and Linda standing there; Candace was staring at where the invention (of sorts) had been a second ago.

"Boys, what's going on?" Linda asked.

"We pranked Candace for April Fools Day!" Phineas called up to his mother.

Linda chuckled. "Oh yeah?" She then turned to her daughter. "Candace, sweetie, try and get in the spirit of the holiday. Pranks should be expected today."

"But— but I was hanging from the roof!" Candace protested. "You don't— I was—" she turned to Phineas and Ferb. "Where did you put it?!"

Phineas blinked, then shrugged.

Candace groaned and stomped back into the house.

"Hey!" Phineas called, whirling to Ferb. "Do you think you can teach me how to do that stuff? I'm really good at comin' up with ideas, but I can't quite build stuff right. I always figured my daddy would teach me when I got older, but…" That sentence didn't need to be finished. "So do you think you could teach me how?"

Ferb bit his lip, unsure for the moment. He was still trying to adjust to the fact that Phineas seemed to like what he could do. But slowly, eventually, Ferb nodded, and Phineas' smile made the whole thing worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

_May 5, 2000_

Phineas sighed, fiddling with the parts in his hands. He had gotten very good at inventing, very quickly. He still very much preferred to do it with Ferb, however, which had baffled him at first. It had taken him a while to get used to the fact actually enjoyed building crazy, logic-defying things.

Once he had gotten used to it, however, Ferb began to build much more often. Oftentimes it was whatever idea Phineas had come up with that day, as Ferb enjoyed what the 3-year-olds creative imagination could come up with, and enjoying the challenge of building them. 'Hey, Ferbmister, I know what we're gonna do today,' had become the daily phrase for the morning.

Phineas' dog Bucky was present in many an idea, and Ferb had come to love the dog just as much.

Today, however, Phineas seemed to be deep in thought as he made his miniature airplane idea. He had told Ferb this was one he wanted to do on his own, so Ferb was not yet sure what the purpose of the model was… though it did appear to actually fly.

At Phineas' sigh, Ferb glanced up curiously and saw Phineas staring at the ceiling.

"Ferbmister," he said. "Why do our shared parents act so weird around each other?"

Ferb gave him a look of amazement.

Phineas turned to him when Ferb did not reply in any way, having gotten used to some sort of response, even if it was usually nonverbal. "What?" he asked.

"Phineas," Ferb said, speaking up for the first time that day. "They like each other."

"Well of course they do. I don't think they would be able to live together otherwise." Phineas pointed out.

"No, they _like_ each other." Ferb tried to clarify.

Phineas stared for a second in confusion before it seemed to click in his head. He gasped. "You mean they _grown-up like_ each other?!"

Ferb nodded, still trying to figure out how Phineas had not known. It was glaringly obvious.

Phineas shot to his feet faster than a bullet. "WE'VE GOTTA GET THEM TOGETHER, FERBMISTER!"

Ferb bit his lip in hesitation, which Phineas noticed.

"Oh come on, you said they _like_ each other. Besides, I've always wanted to play matchmaker. It sounds like fun when Candy talks about it."

"People don't like it when you try to control their life." Ferb said quietly.

"We wouldn't be _controlling_ it." Phineas said in surprise. "You said yourself they like each other."

Ferb bit his lip, not wanting to point out all of the many possible ways this plan could go horribly wrong. They could make things very awkward between them. They could get in trouble. He could bring up memories that they both possibly wanted to forget. Worst case scenario, things could blow up badly between them and Ferb and his father could get kicked out of the house. They had nowhere else to go.

None of these things seemed to cross Phineas' mind, however, as he was scribbling on a fresh page in his sketchbook. "Okay, so I'm thinking romantic dinner!" he paused. "Or is that too cliché?"

Ferb sighed inwardly. There was no talking him out of this, was there? He met Phineas gaze and gave him a meaningful look.

Understanding crossed his gaze. "It's _classic."_ Phineas realized with awe, and Ferb couldn't help the chuckle that escaped at Phineas' amazement at anything and everything.

"Okay! Okay! Here's what we're gonna do…"

…

"And… voilà!"

Ferb glanced up to see Phineas' finished product. His airplane design was finished, and on it was a platter covered with food. Phineas turned to him with a giant grin. "Do you get it?"

Ferb shook his head, tipping it in confusion.

Phineas threw his arms up. " _Here comes the airplane!"_

Ferb's eyes widened in surprise. Then he realized he should have known. Phineas' mind worked in unique ways that should have been easy to predict, but you just weren't thinking outside the box enough. He smiled at Phineas— the first real smile he'd shown him.

And Phineas lit up too. "Hey!" he called. "You smiled! I've never seen you smile before, Ferbmister! You have a really great smile!"

Ferb blushed and looked away.

"Okay, okay." Phineas set the airplane down in the middle of the table. "You stay here— you got your suit?"

Ferb nodded, holding up his suit— expertly hand tailored by himself. He and Phineas were to be the waiters. Phineas was already wearing his suit.

When they heard car doors close outside, Phineas grinned and ran towards the front door.

Ferb glanced around the table to see the conversation coming from the front hall. "Hello, mother and Mr. Ferbmister's dad." Phineas said, bowing like a fancy waiter. Ferb quickly ran to the bathroom and changed into his own suit while Phineas was talking, and gave Phineas a wink when he came back.

Phineas grinned wider, and turned back to their shared parents. "Welcome to your romantic evening." he said excitedly, and grabbed their hands to pull them into the kitchen.

"Phineas, what is this?" Linda asked.

But Phineas had stopped in the middle of the kitchen. "Ferbmister, where's the airplane?" Phineas asked.

Ferb turned and looked at the table only to see the airplane Phineas had built was gone. He walked over to the table and looked around, then turned back to Phineas and shrugged, just as surprised as he was.

"But— this is just like the April Fools Day prank!" Phineas burst out. "Where did it go?"

"Boys, what's going on?" Lawrence asked.

Phineas turned to them and sighed. "We made you a romantic dinner, because Ferb says you guys like each other like grown-ups do—" Both of them blinked in shock and shared a look. "But now it's gone, and I don't know where it went." He sat down on a chair in disappointment and settled his chin in his hands. Ferb walked over and put a hand on Phineas' shoulder, and Phineas sighed. "Thanks Ferbmister. I was just really looking forward to showing them."

Linda and Lawrence exchanged a second glance that said both of them were touched and also a little amused.

"You know what, kids?" Linda asked. "That was very sweet of you. So how about you go make some fancy dinner and the two of us will sit here and talk about grown-up things."

Phineas looked up in surprise. "You'd wait for us to make you another one?"

"Well, sure."

Phineas lit up and grabbed Ferb's hand. "Come on, we gotta hurry!"

Ferb figured they were expecting something like toast and some fruit cups, so they would probably be pretty surprised when the two of them started lamb cobbler. Ferb knew the recipe by heart, and was surprised to find Phineas knew it pretty well too.

But since their shared parents had already gotten there and they couldn't cook it for the required hour anymore, they just did it for 5 minutes in a specially souped-up oven.

Phineas needed help this time in carrying the entire plate into the other room.

"Oh my goodness!" Linda burst out, leaping up and taking the plate from the boys. "You made this?"

"Yeah. We told you we were gonna make you a romantic dinner." Phineas said happily.

"I was expecting, like, toast! And maybe some fruit cups!"

Ferb knew it.

"Oh! So it surpasses your expectations?" Phineas said in excitement.

Linda gave Lawrence a baffled look, who chuckled. "Don't underestimate Ferb's abilities in the kitchen. If he says he's making you a romantic dinner, he means it. I expect the same is true of Phineas." Lawrence ruffled Phineas' hair.

"Well… wow. Okay then. Let's have some lamb cobbler."

"YAY!" Phineas yelled.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: The chapter after this is going to be the last one, as this fanfic was never going to be as long as** _ **The Summer Trip**_ **.** _ **Archie**_ **will be longer than this one, and that's coming next after** _ **The Summer Trip**_ **is over.**

 _November 6, 2000_

Things had progressed very quickly from there. Ferb hadn't been lying on any level. Phineas' mother and his father most definitely liked each other.

They started dating not even a month after Phineas and Ferb's "dinner date." And Phineas, adorable naive three year old he was, had immediately started calling Lawrence "dad."

Ferb had refused to call Linda "mom" until when (or if) she and his father married. He was still very nervous about the whole thing. If both of their parents had a messy breakup, things probably would not end well. And that would probably mean he didn't get to see Phineas anymore. Ferb _really_ didn't want that. He had become very used to the now four-year-old and his eccentricities, and had grown to think of Phineas as… well, as a little brother.

And it seemed Phineas viewed him the same way, because he would bounce up to Ferb very often and ask him questions like this:

…

"Hey, Ferbmister, whaddaya you wanna do?" three-year-old Phineas asked his soon-to-be stepbrother (he was sure).

"What do you want to do?" Ferb asked him.

Phineas gave him a curious look. "I'm askin' you, Ferbmister."

Ferb shrugged.

Phineas smiled at him. "Cummon, Ferbmister, there's gotta be more-ta ya than jus' bein' good with tools. Ya gotta have an idea or two. So cummon, whatchu wanna do today?"

Ferb shrugged again. "I don't have any ideas."

Phineas stood a little taller in determination. "I don't believe you, Ferbmister." he said. He sat down. "Come on, I _always_ come up with the ideas. It's your turn this time. I know you can do it."

Ferb shifted his weight uncomfortably, but Phineas refused to budge. After a second a frown set over his face. "I'm not comin' up with the idea this time Ferb. It's your turn."

Ferb bit his lip, and Phineas held out his sketchbook. Ferb took it after a second and started to draw. Phineas sat down and refused to move until Ferb finished, not wanted to interrupt him.

Eventually, Ferb set the sketchbook down on the ground. Phineas grabbed it and pulled it over. "SEE?!" he burst out, probably much too loud. "THAT'S AMAZING!"

Ferb had drawn what appeared to be machines that got you dressed. There were several different designs that could be adjusted for the individual. Phineas wasn't quite sure what to call them, but they were useful and creative, and that was all he ever came up with.

"We gotta build this stuff!" Phineas said happily. He grabbed Ferb's hand and pulled him up the stairs after him, with Ferb stumbling a little after him.

It took the two of them a while to gather all the supplies, and longer for Phineas to decide on which type of design he wanted. He ended up deciding he liked orange striped shirts, so he went with a design that would add orange stripes to all his shirts— he could always make a different one if he ever got tired of them.

Ferb already had a design picked out— it blew the clothes straight up so he was instantly wearing them.

Phineas ran down to the basement and back gathering supplies as Ferb first built Phineas' design, then his own. In the end they made sure the inventions could slide under the bed. Phineas helped here and there, but he wanted to learn how to build a little better before he actually built something meant to be kept long-term.

But then again, Ferb still didn't seem to want to come up with ideas yet. Maybe if Phineas tried to build some stuff it would help him feel more confident.

So the next day, he suggested to Ferb they build something a little more simple, a trampoline was what he mentioned, so that he could practice with building.

Ferb didn't seem to mind with either option, so he grabbed some screws and the screwdriver from his dad's old toolbox (Ferb had since gotten some tools that were more his size, but Phineas preferred to use ones that had once been his father's). But apparently you didn't really need screws or screwdrivers to put together a trampoline. After about thirty seconds Phineas realized this and put them to the side.

They spent about half an hour getting all of the metal sections to fit together, but neither of them were strong enough to get the springs in. This time, they would need to build something else.

Phineas suggested a mechanical hand, and Ferb agreed. _This time_ Phineas got to use his screwdriver. The building of the device went fairly easily. Ferb had to stop him a couple times and correct what he was doing, but Phineas never made the same mistake twice. Their mechanical hand was finished in 15 minutes. It definitely would have been done faster if Phineas was better at building but oh well, he remarked. He would learn.

Ferb was amazed Phineas managed to shrug off his inability at something so easily. It rolled off his shoulders like water off a duck's back. That was never something Ferb had been able to do. But he did want to get better at such a thing. Maybe being around Phineas would help.

The mechanical hand worked perfectly. Phineas jumped up and cheered, and all the springs were in place in less than a minute.

The two spent most of the afternoon on the trampoline, jumping and playing imagination games and lying in the sunshine. When Linda called them in for dinner, the two hopped down and went inside.

Candace was already rambling about something her and Stacy had done at school that day, while Linda was listening with amusement at how much enthusiasm Candace was putting in.

"Phineas? Ferb?" Linda said once Candace had finished. "Since Candace brought up school, do you two know you're both going to start kindergarten a year from now?"

"Yeah!" Phineas said happily, slamming his hands on the kitchen table. But a second later he froze. "Wait. I'm going… _with_ Ferb, right? Same school?"

Linda chuckled. "Yes, Phineas."

"Good. 'Cause Ferbmister's my best friend, and I don't wanna go to school without him."

Well, Ferb was glad Phineas felt so confident. Not that it was surprising, given he was Phineas. Ferb was not confident. If it had taken him this long to feel comfortable around Phineas, he couldn't imagine what it would be like around 15-25 other kids.

But Ferb's thoughts were interrupted as Phineas sat bolt upright again. "Wait, can we still build trampolines at kindergarten?"

Linda paused. "What?"

"Well, we built a trampoline in the backyard." Phineas said. "And I was wondering—"

"You did _what?!"_ Candace screamed, jumping up from the table and running towards the backyard.

"Candace! Get back here!" Linda called, climbing up and running after her daughter.

Phineas, Ferb, and Lawrence all got up and followed to see the trampoline was gone— just like their April Fools Day Prank, and like Phineas' airplane.

"Ferbmister, where'd it go?" Phineas asked. Ferb shrugged.

"Candace," Linda scolded. "You just dragged everyone away from the table for a nonexistent trampoline! Come on, you're going to come eat your vegetables now."

"B-b-but…"

Lawrence gave both Phineas and Ferb a smile. "I think if you two would want to keep building things at school that would be okay." he said as the three of them walked back towards the table.

Phineas grinned. "You here that, Ferbmister?!" he said happily. "We're gonna have tons of opportunities to do fun stuff!"

Ferb smiled a little. He supposed he could make it through kindergarten, as long as he had his best friend there to help him out.


	6. Chapter 6

_March 3, 2001_

" _HAPPY BIRTHDAY FERBMISTER!"_

Ferb jerked awake to find Phineas' nose hovering inches above his face. He didn't move until Phineas jumped from the bed to the floor in one motion, after which Ferb sat up.

"Okay, okay, so I know last year wasn't the greatest birthday ever for you, and that's partially my fault—"

What was he talking about?

"So this year I made sure I had something ready for you in advance!"

Phineas bounced up to Ferb's bed with something in his hands. It was what appeared to be a screwdriver.

Ferb didn't want to hurt Phineas' feelings by pointing out he already _had_ a screwdriver and that the one Phineas was holding was a little small, but before he could say anything, Phineas shoved it into Ferb's hand. And the screwdriver grew to fit it.

Ferb's eyes widened, and he looked back at Phineas, who was wearing his signature grin. "It grows as you grow!" he said happily. "So you don't ever have to buy a new one! Plus, it's made out of some non-bi-gradeable—" he paused. "Did I say that right?"

Ferb shook his head.

"Oh well. Some non-bi-gradeable material, so it won't ever rust or wear down!" He stopped again. "Do you like it?"

Ferb, in response, gave Phineas one of his rare smiles.

Phineas lit up. "YES!" He jumped up onto the bed and wrapped Ferb in a bear hug that cut off his air.

Ferb coughed, but Phineas took no heed and leapt onto their get-you-dressed machines they had made several weeks ago and spun around as the machine painted stripes on his shirt. But he was so excited the lines blurred a little bit, and the shirt looked a little lopsided. Ferb climbed onto his own and waited the split second while the machine blew his clothes on, and then the two brothers left the room together.

"Happy birthday, Ferb." came the voice of his father as he entered the kitchen. Lawrence ruffled Ferb's hair as Ferb happily sat down at the table. A second later Linda placed a plate with a pancake down in front of him. Ferb looked up in surprise and pointed at himself.

Linda nodded. "Happy birthday," she said, and Ferb gave her a half-smile. "Thanks, mum." he said.

Linda Flynn and Lawrence Fletcher were to be married in July.

Candace bounced into the room and rubbed her knuckles on the top of Ferb's head for a brief second— almost a noogie. "Happy birthday, rat." she said.

"Candace!" Linda scolded. But Ferb didn't take offense to it. That was simply the way Candace showed affection to Phineas and him.

"Can I have pancakes too, mommy?" Phineas asked, bouncing into the seat next to Ferb.

"Yes, Phineas, I made pancakes for everyone." Linda said.

As the soon-to-be family of five gathered around the table, Phineas talked about what special plans he had "for Ferbmister's birthday."

Ferb tried to remember what his birthdays had been like before Phineas Flynn. They could not have possibly been this amazing.

He wasn't even sure Archie had remembered.

"Ferbmister, we're gonna have _somuchfun!"_ Phineas exclaimed, and continued with even more enthusiasm (if such a thing was possible).

"We're going to carpe diem." Ferb said quietly.

Phineas stopped in the middle of his sentence and turned to Ferb. "Huh?" he asked.

"'Carpe diem' is latin for 'seize the day.'" Ferb elaborated.

Phineas' eyes widened. "That. Is. AWESOME!"

Everyone in the room flinched away from his sound.

"Ohmigosh I love that so much! Can I use it?" Phineas asked, bouncing up and down in his chair.

Ferb nodded.

Phineas _squealed_ and shoveled another three bites of pancake into his mouth, then moved on to talk about how much he had planned for this day in particular.

…

Since March 3, 2000, many things had happened in the lives of the Flynn and Fletcher families, that most would not think made a big difference.

Phineas had stopped having nightmares about his father's death several months into he and Ferb sharing a room. Ferb had grown slightly more confident about sharing his own ideas, and about saying something when something made him uncomfortable.

Candace had started to become _obsessed_ with what her little brothers were doing, and it was really starting to get on her mother's nerves.

The Flynn family's dog, Bucky, was growing old, and often stayed in the living room, not doing much. Linda and Lawrence had shared their concern about his failing health and had discussed getting a new pet once the dog passed— or "went to go live on a farm with Kindly Old Man Simmons" as Lawrence put it.

Many neighbors had approached Linda about things her boys were doing and was she really sure it was safe? Linda had no idea what they were talking about.

Phineas and Ferb, in September, took Kindergarten by storm and redid most of the playground. They became very popular, very quickly, in more than one way (Buford Van Stomm did not particularly like them).

But the two mostly preferred to play together. Ferb because he was more than a little shy and didn't want to test his luck just yet, and Phineas: "Because Ferbmister's my best friend." What other reason was needed?

During the school year, everyone wanted to be their friend during recess, and during the summer, everyone always came over to their backyard whenever they could. After all, the two had pledged to carpe diem. And everyone wanted a piece of that.

 _Fin_


End file.
